Cristine Hall
Isabel “Isa” Gomez ’27 began her final year at Chapman much as she began her first: immersed in Orientation Week.
In 2023, she arrived as a first-year student with an undeclared major, still figuring out where she wanted to take her academic journey. Now a senior majoring in sociology and minoring in graphic design, Gomez was one of five Orientation Coordinators. She guided a team of Chapman Orientation Leaders who welcomed a new class and their families. The leaders helped students navigate the excitement and uncertainty of starting college.
Gomez knew from experience why those five days mattered. The week couldn’t promise instant friendships or an immediate sense of belonging. But it could introduce students to people, possibilities, and traditions that would help them build community over time.
A spirited Move-In welcome and a formal Opening Convocation began the week. Fenestra Forums brought together small groups of students from the same college or major. Guided by Orientation Leaders, students met classmates and began thinking about academics, campus involvement, and personal goals. The Candle Lighting Ceremony marked the emotional transition from family to campus life. During the Chapman tradition, alumni and faculty pass the Flame of Knowledge to incoming students, welcoming them to the university community. Playfair followed with large-group games and icebreakers on Wilson Field that helped students relax, have fun, and meet people. Together, those moments helped students begin making Chapman their own.
Taking in her final first week
“I was so thrilled by all the options — everything I could do and everything I could try,” Gomez recalled of her first Orientation Week.
This time, she drew on lessons about mindfulness from a positive psychology class she took in high school. She tried to stay present, allowing each event to feel both familiar and final.
“I was feeling it bit by bit at every event,” she said. “It was sort of a gradual closure experience for myself.”
A personal welcome meets students where they are
By 7 a.m. on Move-In Day, Gomez was making rounds with a clipboard in hand. She fielded calls and texts from Orientation Leaders stationed outside residence halls and at nearby intersections. At the entrance to the Jim Miller Parking Structure, leaders wore T-shirts and baseball caps Gomez had designed. They joined the Chapman Cheer Squad and Pete the Panther in greeting arriving families.
Parents stopped for photos before steering move-in bins piled with mattress toppers, Woozoo fans, and suitcases toward the residence halls. At times, Pete helped push a bin. Between check-ins, Gomez paused for photos with the team she had spent months helping prepare.
“It’s a chaotic and emotional day for families,” said Houston Curtis. “But when you pull up, they turn that stress into something joyous.”
His daughter, Callie Curtis ’30, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, plans to major in communication and minor in public relations. Before Move-In Day, she had met other incoming students at an alumni-hosted welcome gathering in Cambridge.
“Chapman does a great job of connecting everyone,” said Callie’s mother, Bonnie Buckley. “I’m feeling all the feels. But I know she’s already made great friends and is excited to volunteer in the community.”
Support for families continued the next day, when Gomez gave opening remarks at Making the Transition, a session for parents and family members. It addressed the changes that come with sending a student to college and explained where to turn for support after they headed home.
Preparing for different starting points
Gomez helped select and train an orientation leadership team to meet a range of student needs. Leaders learned to read the energy in their Fenestra Forums and adjust. Some groups were eager to participate; others were hesitant. The training also emphasized empathy and what the team called “calling in, not calling out.” Leaders invited students to participate without putting them on the spot.
“Everybody’s starting somewhere different,” Gomez said. She hoped each student’s Orientation Leader would do something that helped them feel more comfortable and confident.
Peer support continues beyond Orientation Week
On her way to check on orientation leaders at Walnut Avenue and North Grand Street, Gomez crossed paths with Indy Rahill ’27. Rahill was her first-year roommate and is now her best friend. Gomez’s own Orientation Leaders had made a lasting impression. The following spring, she persuaded Rahill to apply with her.
They later served as First-Year Experience Peer Advisers, helping students remain connected after August. During their sophomore year, they created “Chasing Waterfalls,” a Chapman Radio show about trying new things. Rahill, a health sciences major, now leads the peer-adviser program.
Seeing Rahill brought back favorite memories: watching the sunrise over campus at 6 a.m. and skateboarding together across Attallah Piazza in the rain.
“I never could have predicted all the friends I would make and experiences I would have,” Gomez said. “It’s the people that make the place.”
Students have room to explore
Thursday began at 6 a.m. with Gomez setting up transfer check-in. It ended with her speaking to more than 900 students at the first Becoming Panthers event in Musco Center for the Arts.
She told students that she had arrived undeclared. At the time, she worried that choosing one direction would close the door on her other interests. At Chapman, she learned that an experience could have value even when it did not lead where she expected. That philosophy gave her the confidence to explore and ultimately find her place.
That approach led her to sociology and graphic design. The combination connected her interest in people and communities with her desire to create purposeful work.
“The least you can gain is a story,” she told the new students, “and the most you can gain are your closest friends and your favorite memories.”
After the speeches, students wrote their hopes for the next four years on red ribbons. They tied them to their class’s Window of Opportunity sculpture, which Gomez had helped assemble during Candle Lighting.
Gomez’s mother and brother cheered from the front row. Outside Musco afterward, orientation leaders and first-year students stopped her to say that her story had moved them.
“I’m just soaking it up,” Gomez said. “To realize people see me that way and to be there for them is kind of special.”
At the orientation team’s closing ceremony, Gomez listened as leaders thanked one another. They spoke about new friendships and the sense of family they had found. The next morning, she spotted students heading to their first classes in shirts bearing her design.
Her final Orientation Week was over. For the students she helped welcome, the Chapman experience was just beginning.
